The present invention is generally related to the use of a remote, automated apparatus for monitoring of inventory of News Racks. News Racks are unique in that they are generally located where it would not be conducive to provide utilities such as power or telephone. News Racks further utilize an honor system for purchases, whereby a consumer would insert change into a payment mechanism, the payment mechanism would allow the access door to open, and the consumer would honorably withdraw a single copy of the Newspaper.
News Racks do not normally distribute change. They do not have sensors. They normally do not support portable power such as batteries.
News Racks are desired to be manufactured of low cost materials and able to withstand harsh environments, including extreme variances in temperatures, extreme variances in humidity, salt spray (for corrosion), physical abuse, and the like.
The Newspaper companies print a predetermined quantity of Newspapers referred to as a draw. The draw is then distributed to the fleet of News Racks. The Single Copy Sales Manager uses very limited information to assist in the distribution process. Newsprint is generally the second largest cost to the Newspaper Company; the first is generally salaries. The goal is to optimize sales while minimizing the excess number of Newspapers that are printed.
It is desirable for the Single Copy Sales Manager to obtain verification that each News Rack is filled and the time in which each News Rack is filled as well as when the inventory of each of the News Racks is depleted. This can aid in the distribution of the draw and further re-distribution of the draw upon depletion of the inventory. This will result in optimizing profits.
One currently used method of identifying when the inventory is depleted within a News Rack is by employing someone to travel about inspecting the various News Racks, whereby that person reports any News Racks with depleted inventory. One flaw in this scenario is where the person passes a News Rack then the last Newspaper is purchased. At best, there is a time delay before the News Rack is identified as empty, at worst case, the News Rack is never identified as empty.
News Racks are normally located adjacent similar News Racks of competing companies. The optimal sales period for Newspapers is generally considered between 6 AM and 1 PM. Should the inventory of a News Rack become depleted prior to the end of the optimal time period, it would be desirable to replenish the inventory of Newspapers within the News Racks. This minimizes the risk of a Customer purchasing a competing Newspaper.
A majority of the revenue for a Newspaper company is from advertisements. Advertisements require distribution of the printed media. When the News Racks are empty, the process is no longer able to distribute the media or provide the desired advertisements. The ability to ensure the advertisements are available to the consumer enhances the value of the advertisement process and cost to the advertiser.
News Racks are located in a multitude of locations. The multitude of locations provides the ability to monitor weather, persons, traffic, and the like proximate the location of the News Racks.
Other sales means for Newspapers include shelf sales systems located in convenience stores, supermarkets and the like. This means of presentation also fails to provide inventory information to the Newspaper Company.
Single paper distribution racks are known.
It would be desirable for a Single Copy Sales Manager to obtain demographics pertaining to the deployed number of News Racks in order to predict an optimal distribution pattern.
News Racks occasionally falter when the customer inserts change and the News Rack fails to open. News Racks do not provide change. At times, customers do not recognize this limitation of the News Racks; therefore the customers request a refund. The cost of processing a refund can be as high as $5 per occasion, much higher than the average $0.50 per Newspaper.
Selective call receivers, such as paging devices, wireless personal data assistants, cell phones, and the like, are known to remotely control devices such as lawn sprinkling systems for golf courses.
Selective call receivers, such as paging devices, wireless personal data assistants, cell phones, and the like, are known to have two way signal transmission capabilities.
Newspaper dispensers are preferred to be low cost, free standing, and located in remote locations. Additionally, the newspaper dispensers are generally placed at locations that are not conducive to wired facilities, such as power, communications, and the like.
Newspapers have a shelf life of News Rack access door transparent viewing panel 24 hours, thus increasing the need for inventory control. Excess inventory must be scrapped; shortages limit the potential sales.
Automated dispensing or vending machines are known.
Signal transmissions or other means to interface between two electronic circuits are known.
Global Positioning Systems are known.
What is desired is a method and apparatus to provide the Newspaper companies with a means to provide data collection in real time.
The use of a cellular or paging network incurs a monthly fee from the respective service provider. Although said monthly fees are generally low for each individual unit, when multiplied by higher quantities, this fee becomes a critical factor in a business decision. Newspaper companies can have 10K-25K racks in one region. A monthly service fee of only $3.00 per unit can be absorbed with a small number of racks, such as 1K-$3K per month. Consider the company that has 25K racks deployed. With the same $3.00 monthly fee, that would result in an incurred expense of $75K monthly which would be a deterrent. What would be desirable would be a lower cost per unit.
Newspaper companies are in need of alternative income sources to supplement lower circulation numbers as well as broadening advertising space, such as the Internet. What is desirable is to provide a means for additional revenue to the newspaper companies.